


Ham Sandwich Boys

by ssttitdramon



Category: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, from tumblr, ssttitd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21803794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssttitdramon/pseuds/ssttitdramon
Summary: Tumblr Request: Would you be comfortable doing a Ramón x Male reader? If so, can you write a out them running from town to town to escape the draft and they meet the gang and the gang defends them as boyfriends? Maybe?
Relationships: Ramón Morales/Reader
Kudos: 5





	Ham Sandwich Boys

“Gimme another.” Ramón asks, holding out his palm. You fish out a nickel from your jean pocket and handed the coin to him. You listen to him insert the coin and push a button, starting the washing machine.

“You sure you’ve got the right socks in there?” you nudge his shoulder, remembering the time Ramón had accidentally let a blue and orange sock into his sister’s white clothes pile. The wash was stopped quickly, but not before completely ruining his sister’s new First Communion dress. Ramón laughs at the memory, his first genuine laugh in days and it made you feel so relieved. 

He turns to you and leans back against the machine, “Shit, my mom sent me to work with my uncle for two weeks to buy her a new dress. Remember that? I was too exhausted to hang out or do anything cause I would come home late every night.” he beams. 

“I thought you hated my guts, all because you were too embarrassed to explain what happened.” you both laugh at your naive 12 year old selves. That summer when Ramón ruined his sister’s clothes was also the summer the two of you had met at a flea market, neither having a clue of just how important you’d be in each other’s lives as you grew up together. 

From the corner of your eye, you notice a newspaper flap down and ruffled back up to the face of its reader, sitting only four machines away from the two of you. You turn your head slightly, noting she was a skeptical old woman, her beady blue eyes examining the closeness between you and your boyfriend over her newspapers. Ramón notices too, “Hey, why don’t you buy something to eat at the diner we passed by earlier? I’ll meet you by the car, yeah?” he quietly suggests, dark eyes urging you to get out. 

You sigh and nod, quick to leave the 24-hour laundromat before attracting any more attention. After briefly questioned by the town’s police chief earlier, the two of you were on edge, but not unaccustomed to this sort of small town demeanor. In two towns you’ve driven through, Ramón was directly warned of sticking around after dark when they’d see he was alone. In three others, you were followed and watched. If there was any slight affection shown between you two, you’d be shunned and driven out before matters turned violent.

As you get closer to the diner, you watch a group of kids run out of an alley behind a german shepherd with a baseball in his mouth. They run in between cars, yelling at each other to catch the dog and apologize to annoyed drivers. You stop as you watch them corner the animal into the entrance of a hair salon, not noticing the two boys who stopped to watch the commotion next to you. “I don’t know why Henry always lets his dog out this time of day.” the voice from behind you startles you.

You turn around to see two boys, the taller one punching his friend on the shoulder. “Oh sorry man, we didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” the curly haired boy apologizes. 

“It’s okay.” you offer a tight-lipped smile to both.

“Cool, I’m Chuck and this _tent pole_ calls himself Auggie.” he points a thumb at his annoyed companion, “You’re not from around here, are you?” he continues. 

“Chuck, you don’t have to interrogate the guy seconds after meeting him.” Auggie complains and sends you an apologetic look. 

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ve been on the road with a friend and we stopped here for a bit.” you explain, shoving your hands into the pockets of your jacket. 

“See Augs? Been telling you we should go on a road trip.” Chuck glares at his friend. 

Auggie rolls his eyes, “As if your Elmer’s Glue mom would ever let you leave town without her.” he grumbles, dodging Chuck’s jabs at his face immediately after. 

You laugh, “So uh, do you guys have any recommendations from this place?” you point at the diner behind them.

“Oh, you should try out their ham sandwiches, the greatest thing ever.” Chuck advises as the three of you walk inside. 

Auggie pushes the menu to your hands, “I’d say you avoid the onion rings here, I don’t trust them.” he points to the bottom of the paper.

Considering the boys’ serious opinions about the food, you head for the counter and ask for two ham sandwiches, a side of fries and two drinks. Chuck orders a chocolate milkshake, much to the disappointment of Auggie and they begin to bicker over who’s really eaten what before. After checking the clock on the restaurant’s blue wall, Chuck reassures you about the quality of the sandwiches one last time before rushing out behind Auggie, the two needing to go “meet someone for something tonight”.

After getting your food, you walk to Ramón’s car, only to find it empty. You peer inside the laundromat, still unable to spot the boy. You hear a familiar whistle to your left and see Ramón walking over to you from the end of the street. “Almost started to freak out, thought something happened to you or maybe you got lost.” you mention, handing him his drink.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” he reassures you, “plus, I found this cool tree.” he motions you to follow him. Ramón leads you through two blocks before stopping at the edge of town, overlooking the woods. 

“Ramón, this place looks like its where people dump bodies.” you joke, bending down to survey an old fox hole underneath the roots of a tree. 

“If we see one, we’ll just get haunted for the rest of our lives together, alright?” he smirks and points to a tall tree several feet away. “That’s the one I’m talking about.” 

The branches of the tree in question twist in all directions, some long enough to swoop down and nearly touch the ground. You watch as Ramón sets his drink on one of the large branches, positions a foot against the thick trunk and begins to climb the old tree. He makes his way to a third branch and sits, “Toss me the bag.” he waves his hands.

“I swear if you don’t fucking catch it…” you mumble and give him the stink eye, tightening the rolled top of the paper bag. You hold your breath and throw the bag up, surprised when he actually manages to catch it. 

“You guys always doubt me on whether or not I can catch stuff.” he complains, already munching on a fry.

You put your drink where Ramón put his and begin the climb up. “Yeah well,” you huff, hands on the rough bark, “nobody…” you pull yourself up, “does after you let-”. You almost lose your footing, but you’re able to hold yourself steady after finding a knot, “-after _you_ let that stupid water balloon slip and got all of us in trouble.” you continue, catching Ramón roll his eyes. You finally manage to sit next to him and find half of the fries gone.

“This stuff’s good.” he comments halfway through his sandwich. You bite into yours and nod, mentioning the two boys who recommended it. 

The two of you finish your food and look down the street as people walk about on their typical Thursday afternoon. The sunset on the opposite side of Mill Valley reminds you of the one you’d both watch together back home. Your heart twitches at the thought of home, but you shake it off before you get your head stuck in it for the rest of the night. You don’t realize how exhausted you are from driving last night until you lean back against the tree trunk and immediately feel your eyelids get heavy. You ask Ramón to wake you up in 20 minutes and nod off.

Nearly an hour later, you wake up to darkness and bitter wind. You feel Ramón’s head on your lap and a stick digging into your back. “Hey,” you whisper, “wake up, we fell asleep.” you run a hand through his hair. 

Ramón slowly sits up, “Ah, we gotta go dry the clothes.” he yawns and rubs an eye. The two of you gather your trash and carefully make your way down the tree in the dark. You grab Ramón’s arm when he nearly stumbles on an exposed root, then you hear it. Footsteps behind you. 

You turn your head, seeing nothing within the trees with whatever light the moon offers. “Come on, we gotta get out of here.” you rush out, focusing on the quiet street ahead of you. The street wasn’t as busy as it was earlier, you can see only a few people mill around and several cars driving through. Ramón mentions leaving as soon as the clothes were dry, which makes you dread being on the dark road again.

The laundromat is also nearly empty when you reach it, with only two women gossiping by their dryers and a toddler fast asleep inside a basket. You and Ramón take out the clothes from the machine and make your way to a dryer when you notice her again, the same old woman eyeing you over her newspapers. Ignoring her, you stuff the clothes inside the dryer and start the cycle. 

The gossiping women soon leave with their clothes and the sleepy child. This left you and Ramón alone in awkward silence with the old woman, the only noise coming from the dryer and the buzzing of the fluorescent lights above you.

“I’m gonna go to the restroom, you okay here?” Ramón asks, also growing wary of the old woman. You give him a thumbs up and slide down against the set of dryers behind you, which at least put the suspicious woman out of sight. 

As soon as Ramón is gone, you hear something small drop and roll. From the rows in front of you, you see a penny roll towards you and hit your shoe, landing with Lincoln’s head up. You pick it up and hear the old woman cough, rattling her newspapers. Next, her chair groans and creaks. She coughs again, this time seemingly closer. You look up and see her cold eyes stare at you from behind the row of washing machines. She shuffles closer, her nose coming into view along with the dry skin of her pale cheekbones peeling off. The old woman coughs again and raises her thin eyebrows.

“You’re quite the handsome young man, aren’t you?” she utters, her voice sounds as if though it droned from a radio. 

You’re at a loss for words, “Knew a fella who looked quite like you.” the old woman continues. She begins to walk down the row, her unblinking blue eyes stay on you. The buzzing lights above you flicker momentarily and you can hear the newspapers fold and unfold in her hands. “ _Oh yes_ ,” she hisses, “I believe he went missing about forty years ago.” 

You stand up when she gets to the end of your row of dryers. “Would you like to see where I last saw him?” she asks, seemingly upset when you shake your head. Behind her, Ramón exits the restroom and freezes in place, his eyes dart between you and her. He slowly makes his way around the old woman, “You know, he was also accompanied by a pretty boy, just like him.” she drawls and points at Ramón.

Ramón walks back to you at a gradual pace, not wanting to take his eyes off of her. She lets the newspapers fall to the beige tile floor. The front page slides to Ramón’s feet. Looking down, you take into account the front headlines screamed of an Indiana coal mine disaster, killing 51.

“1925…” Ramón whispers, you look back to the old woman who was now only a few feet from Ramón.

She grins, “Let me get that.” and bends down, bony arms reaching for the worn paper. You grab Ramón’s arm and pull him back when the old woman stays in the angled position, her long nails raking over the paper. You hear a resounding crack throughout the laundromat. You look around thinking it came from one of the machines, but bring your attention back to the old woman when you feel Ramón’s arm shake under your hand.

Her shoulders twitch, her hands shake and she emits another loud crack from her body. She moans, her spine visibly begins to twitch and she stands upright, her eyes trained on you again. The old woman moans again and her open jaw becomes loose, exposing what seems to be multiple rows of teeth inside.

The lights flicker again, “We gotta get the hell out _now_.” you tug at Ramón’s sleeve. Without hesitating, the two of you run for the front door, the sound of feet hitting metal following close behind you. 

You feel nails snap at your ankles and three hands on your leg yank you down. Ramón, who has made it outside already, seems to struggle in opening the jammed door. His fists begin to hit the glass, accompanied by a string of incoherent spanish cursing. The flickering lights inside the laundromat go out completely with a loud crackle. The only source of light is a street light that pours into the business, giving you some clarity of the hissing four-armed abomination of what used to be an old woman, still tugging at your leg. “ _You won’t get to hear my story_.” it garbles, eyes rolling back.

“Fuck-” you kick at it’s face twice, “your story.” you scramble up and out of the laundromat, running straight into Ramón’s arms. There’s no time for an embrace as it drags itself right behind the two of you, hot on your heels. 

You both head for the car, but with the slicing at your bloody ankles, it won’t give either of you a chance to get in. The two of you decide to run down the now-empty street, heading for the woods. “ _Don’t ya wanna hear what I’ll eventually do to you fellas?_ ” it yowls. 

“You won’t do _shit!_ ” you hear a voice behind you, immediately followed by the sound of metal hitting flesh. You and Ramón stop and turn around to see two kids in Halloween costumes. A spider holds a metal bat and swings at the monster again, while a clown rushes to both of you. You recognize the clown as one of the kids you met earlier, his face full of concern and fear. 

“Auggie?” you ask, feeling Ramón’s hand on your shoulder.

“No time to explain.” Auggie blurts and motions to his friend beating the convulsing monster. Ramón joins him, he takes out his lighter and drops it on the distorted body. It screeches and crawls off to the woods in flames before Chuck can get another hit.

Ramón pulls you closer and hugs you, “You okay?” he whispers into your shoulder. 

“Yeah I’m good.” you reassure him and hold him tight.

You pull away from Ramón and turn to the two boys in costume, “What was that and how did you find us?”

“We’ve heard about this bitch crawling around Mill Valley, but we thought she was just a legend until now.” Chuck explains, baseball bat set on his shoulder.

“Also, we were walking home from our friend’s house, then we heard him yelling.” Auggie points to Ramón.

You introduce Ramón to the two and introduce Auggie and Chuck as the “ham sandwich boys” -much to their amusement.

“Alright, you two need to leave, something tells me it’ll come crawling back for you.” Auggie says in all seriousness.

“What about you two?” you ask. They couldn’t leave, but you were already considering staying to fight the thing off with them. 

“We’ve got a friend who kinda knows all about monsters. She’ll love to take a crack at this one here in town.”

This makes Ramón turn to look at you with eyebrows raised, “Well we got saved by a clown and a spider, think they got this handled?” you ask, making him laugh.

“Dude, I’m a pierrot.”

“Yeah and I was supposed to be Spider-Man!”


End file.
